CLARENCE THE THREE-LEGGED KITTEN
He’s sitting on my lap, purring away. Now he wants down, to explore. He inspects the perimeter, finally slipping into that place under the table where cats like to go. Is it because it’s dark and quiet, or do they know what a pain it is for me to get them back out?
Clarence comes out of his own accord to do another run around the room. If you ignore his stunted gate and the way he hobbles, he would seem much like any other cat. But Clarence is different. Clarence only has three legs.
Clarence, a six-month-old kitten, came to the Oregon Humane Society with a 1.5” round wound on his right hip. Tests traced its origin to a mass attached to the bone which may have occurred when a previous fracture healed badly. The left hip had also been affected by the trauma. The upshot was surgery on the left hip and the amputation of the entire right leg. Two days later, the call went out for a foster parent, a call that I happily answered.
It had been several months since I’d fostered a cat, and I was excited to begin again. I have a designated foster room with a pleasantly equipped kennel where I’d cared for many cats with mobility issues. I thought this one would be similar—limited movement, no running or jumping, and a twice-daily set of physical therapy exercises. I wasn’t worried about the fact he had only three legs. I’ve seen tripod cats who got along just fine, not limited by their disability as humans tend to be. I understood this would be a new experience for me, but I forgot to take into account that it was a new experience for Clarence too.
We didn’t do much the day I brought him home. Clarence seemed happy to lie in the big bed in the kennel and watch the birds and squirrels. He didn’t eat much, but that wasn’t unusual for a foster cat’s first night. He was sweet, friendly, and loving, and my heart went out to him from the start.
The next morning I took him out of the kennel and put him on the floor next to his food bowl. He took a few steps and went into an absolute panic. He fell onto his side and tried to rise. I could see him attempting to work that leg that was no longer there. Baffled and scared, he stumbled around the small room until I scooped him up and placed him back in the safety of his kennel bed where he curled around himself and looked at me with huge yellow eyes as if asking me WTF.
To be continued…
